Wife’s hard work is a labour of love for Bendigo councillor's spouse

A CAR pulls up and its driver is outside within seconds, running towards the back.

She opens the door, pulls down a ramp and waits for the second occupant to disembark.

She runs back to the front of the car, quickly returning to brush the hair of the man who has emerged from the back of the vehicle.

Within seconds he zips away. She runs back, locks the car and runs off into the distance behind the man in the electric wheelchair.

It is scenes like this that has earned Alison Campbell the nickname “the Energiser bunny”.

Her life changed overnight almost two years ago.

The grade two teacher would put a sudden halt on her lifelong career and set forward on a journey to help her husband, City of Greater Bendigo councillor Rod Campbell, recover from a cruel condition that left him paralysed and on a ventilator.

For more than six months she would visit her husband in the intensive care ward, a place most only stay for four days.

She would pry open his eyes to check to see if he was still trapped inside his lifeless frame.

“We had no idea what would happen, no prognosis. When he was totally paralysed people just shook their heads,” Alison said.

“Every step is a wonder. Rod continues to improve every month. There is more that is needed but everything takes time.”

Alison and Rod Campbell have been married 39 years.

They work seamlessly together, finishing each other’s sentences and freely offer praise for one another.

Alison has barely slept a full night since Rod received his second Guillain-Barre syndrome diagnosis.

The Eppalock ward councillor struggles to sleep and is unable to move his body. Alison sets an alarm for the very early hours of the morning to roll her husband onto his other side.

The couple’s day formally starts about 6.30am. Alison potters around the house preparing for a health worker to arrive.

She will spend the rest of the day managing an array of tasks.

Tending to her husband, while a full-time commitment alone, is just half of what she does each day.